Alaska Is Essential to U.S. Energy Security

Since taking office, President Biden has laid waste to America’s traditional energy sector.  It shouldn’t be surprising; he promised to ”end fossil fuels” on the campaign trail, but the speed and thoroughness has been appalling.

Thanks in part to day-one actions shuttering the Keystone XL pipeline, thwarting potential development on Alaska’s Coastal Plain and ending oil and gas leasing on federal lands and in federal waters, Biden has turned the U.S. from a net oil and gas exporter during the final days of the Trump administration to a country needing to import nearly eight million barrels of oil per day to meet its current demand.

Yet in many ways, Biden has also failed on his green promises. If Biden intends to fulfill his eco-calling, he needs to uphold his promises to mine, process and manufacture ‘green’ energy in America.  Those “good paying jobs” are languishing, as are U.S. opportunities to relieve itself from the pressure of being under Communist China’s thumb for supply chain and distribution pressures for everything from raw materials to finished products that are crucial to our nation’s tech, military and utility requirements.

First, he directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to circumvent permitting processes and veto the $1 trillion of copper in the Pebble deposit in southwest Alaska.  Then, he and the Department of Interior’s denied permits for the Twin Metals nickel and copper deposits in Minnesota.  Just last week, Biden’s executive order declared more than 500,000 mineral-rich acres around Nevada’s Avi Kwa Ame historical area off-limits to production, forever.

Nowhere could Biden make a bigger splash than in Alaska, which boasts world-class deposits of graphite, copper and numerous critical and strategic minerals, in addition to the aforementioned Pebble deposit.  Fast-tracking the permitting timelines, without sacrificing the thorough scientific studies that are part of the NEPA process, would be a boon for American energy.

In Northwest Alaska, two projects are noteworthy: Graphite Creek and the Ambler District.  Graphite Creek could be the U.S.’s only graphite mine – we currently import 100% or our nation’s needs – and is big enough to one day supply our entire domestic demand.  Not only will Graphite One, the mine’s developer, extract the raw materials, it will process them in Washington state.  This additional link in the supply chain will create more jobs, but also provide a hand-off to manufacturing facilities the Biden administration continues to promise.

The Ambler District, located above the Arctic Circle, holds deposits of many of the minerals needed to achieve Biden’s ‘green revolution’.  The project could employ hundreds of Alaskans, much like the Red Dog (zinc) Mine has to the area’s northwest.  The ability for the extracted resources to be brought to tidewater via an access road and existing highway infrastructure would allow for easy export, if processing facilities aren’t’ ultimately built in Alaska.

The third project that could help define Biden’s legacy is in Alaska’s Southeast Panhandle.  The Bokan Mountain project would extract rare Earth elements (REEs) and then process them at a to-be-built complex nearby.  The goal, according to project owners Ucore, is to “foster an independent American REE supply chain.”

Ultimately, with Biden’s approval rating dipping into the 30s and young voters already wary about re-electing an 82-year-old, any ability to showcase campaign promises can only help his re-election efforts.  Taking a different approach in Alaska, where Biden and his leadership team have approved one project and harmed 48 others via administrative or executive orders, would be welcomed by business and government officials in the state. 

Alaska and America both need to benefit from whatever ‘greening’ the environmental movement pushes on our country in the coming months.  Moving these three projects forward can only help do that.

Rick Whitbeck is the Alaska State Director for Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs and opportunities. Contact him at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com and follow him on Twitter @PTFAlaska.